Today's Cool News

Saving Bloggers

You'll want to read this shocking post:

The arrival of the individual preceded the formation of the societal organization, and this formation is what founded the law. And as is known, one of the most important functions that this organization was formed for is the protection of the rights of the individuals from degradation under the protection of the law. Therefore, it is the individual, whose arrival had preceded these legislations, who must enjoy sanctity and respect, and not the law (the follower), which is supposed to protect the rights of the individuals, not degrade these rights.

Regardless of whether this law is a custom, a religious legislation, or positivistic, it cannot, under any circumstances, be placed above human beings, and it cannot be pressed on them, on their desires, or on their wills in life. Laws are nothing but deaf, rigid provisions, whereas the human being is a mass of live emotions which we have no right to press on it this deaf entity, and we have no right to submit him through its provisions.

The young man who wrote this appeal to Humanism is now sitting in an Egyptian Jail. The Committee to Protect Bloggers and others hope you'll send him a letter to boost his spirits and to let the Egyptian bigots, er, authorities know that people care about Kareem Amer.

Here's how to do it:

    Alexandria
    Borg Al-Arab Prison
    Room 1 Section 22
    Prisoner Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman
    The Arab Republic of Egypt

    Kareem’s address in Arabic - mandatory to include on envelope

You Can Even Eat the White People, They're Like Pork

You know we talk a good game when it comes to human rights and genocide, and all that fun stuff.  But when it comes to actually paying attention to the details, all but the most twisted of us squirm away.

Former Liberian fun-guy Charles Taylor is now on trial at the Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his part in a series of "alternative lifestyle" activities when he was fighting to overthrow another peach of a fellow named Sammy Doe. 

Let's put it this way, if Charles ever invited you over for dinner with his friends, you had better hope you weren't the main course.

From the Guardian:

A commander in Charles Taylor's militia has told a war crimes trial that the former Liberian president ordered his fighters to eat their enemies, including UN peacekeepers, as a means of terrorising the population.

Joseph "Zigzag" Marzah, chief of operations for Taylor who is on trial at The Hague, also testified that he oversaw horrific crimes such as cutting the babies out of pregnant women, and that the former president told his men that their enemies "are no longer human beings".

(snip)

"He said we should eat them ... Even the UN white people - he said we could use them as pork to eat," Marzah told the court. "We ate a few [Ecomog soldiers], but not many. But many were executed, about 68."

He said Taylor said eating people "set an example for the people to be afraid".

Taylor's defence lawyer asked Marzah how the fighters would "prepare a human being for the pot". The former commander described decapitating, carving up, cleaning and cooking corpses seasoned with salt and pepper.

"We slit your throat, butcher you ... throw away the head, take the flesh and put it in a pot ... Charles Taylor knows that," said Marzah.

(snip)

Although Taylor is not on trial for those crimes the testimony that he encouraged barbaric acts will undercut his attempts to distance himself from rebels in Sierra Leone who he supported as Liberia's president and who were also responsible for crimes such as mutilation, mass rape and murder.

This Place Blows But You Still Gotta Go Back

It's been nearly 12 year since a volcano blew the island of Montserrat to smithereens.  Okay maybe not that far.

But refugees from the blast who went to America now have to go home.

From the Montserrat Reporter:

The news came fast for an official number of 292 Montserratians residing in the United States under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program that the end of TPS was near. No less surprising, three weeks later, in spite of efforts to change the decision or find new ways of avoiding what seems to be inevitable, there appears little hope and the disappointments continue.  Now Immigration activists are trying to draw attention to the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to send these Montserratians back home eight years after they were forced to evacuate.

(snip)

Although they concede the conditions in Montserrat continue to warrant concern, they based their determination on scientific reports from Montserrat and Britain which said: that "eruptions of the type that have occurred at Soufriere Hills generally last 20 years, but the volcano could continue to erupt sporadically for decades…there is only a 3.2-percent chance that this period of volcanic activity will stop within the next six months. There is a 50-percent probability that the volcanic activity will last another 14-15 years, and a 5-percent chance that the volcanic activity will continue for over 180 years."

(snip)

Meanwhile, Richard Aspin, Governor's Press Officer, told The Montserrat Reporter on Tuesday, "The UK Government has requested a list of the names of the persons who are affected. An attempt is being made to find out who will eventually be forced to leave, who are desirous of going to England or return to Montserrat."

Don't Show This Video to Dick Cheney

I can't figure out who's more of a character, the first lady of Kenya, Lucy Kibaki, or her husband the President... who apparently can not only handle this woman but also one on the side.

From the Standard Online of Kenya:

First Lady Lucy Kibaki has proven herself a fast lady.

The mother of the nation has, for the second time and in full views of TV cameras, swung a slap at someone.

Unlike in 2005, when she paid the Nation Media Group’s headquarters a late-night visit and ended up slapping a photo-journalist, this time round her husband was in the dignified gathering at State House.

The First Lady was so piqued by her introduction by the principal administration secretary in the Office of the President, Mr Francis Musyimi, as "First Lady Mama Lucy Wambui", that she left the podium to administer instant justice.

(snip)

There is no way of knowing how the slip came to be. The man nursing the trauma of making her cross was probably just nervous and had his train of thought distorted by the aura of power around him. He ended up speaking a name considered a taboo subject in State House.

(snip)

There is also the time she took on the then Sports minister Mr Ochilo Ayacko saying there were frogs in the swimming pools at the Kasarani Sports Complex.

(snip)

But there is a side of the First Lady we may never fathom, the sudden gush of rage and the loud silence that follows. I have come across many theories but I am always convinced, given her position, restraint is more rewarding.

(snip)

Not even the outrageous confiscation of cameras from the hands of journalists and forceful erasure of the evidence of this assault will help lighten the situation.

Everything about this boggles the mind.

Here's why I don't want anyone to show this tape to Dick Cheney.  We don't need him to get the idea that when something dark happens, you can just confiscate and erase the tapes.  Still you have to admire the package Kenya's NTV put together on the farce.

Turkey's Latest Religious Conundrum

For all of its faults, and like anyplace else, it has its share, Turkey remains a somewhat hopeful model for the Islamic world because of its commitment to secular governance.  As the country continues to try to join the EU, one of the problems it faces are "religious liberties" issues brought on by Turkey's methods of keeping the religious zealots on all sides in line.  A Greek Orthodox seminary is now at the heart of the fight.

From The Turkish Daily News:

  (Turkish) Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül was quoted on Tuesday as saying a hotly debated Greek Orthodox seminary near Istanbul would not reopen because the leader of the Greek Orthodox community had rejected Ankara's conditions.

  The Halki Seminary on Heybeliada Island was closed in 1971 under a law requiring state supervision of university-level religious education. The reopening of the seminary is viewed by the European Union, which Turkey aims to join, as a litmus test of Turkey's commitment to the freedom of its religious minorities.

  Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartolomeos says the failure to reopen the seminary threatens the survival of Turkey's dwindling Orthodox Christian population.

  "Allowing the seminary to provide religious education conflicts with the Turkish Constitution and the principle of secularism," mass-circulation Hürriyet daily quoted Gül as saying in response to criticism from Athens.

(snip)

  Turkey, whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim but which has a secular political system, fears any easing of the curbs on religious education could be exploited by Islamist groups.

No Prayers for Peace in the Bakassi Peninsula

One always wonders if this is the year when they finally "Immanentize the Eschaton."

This time it may not be Fernando Poo, but rather the Bakassi Peninsula.

From allAfrica.com:

In a move that may spell trouble with Nigeria's eastern neighbour, the Senate yesterday nullified last year's controversial ceding of the Bakassi Peninsula and other parts of Nigeria's territory to the Republic of Cameroon

It requested President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua "to forthwith stop any further transfer of any part of this country unless the agreement is ratified by the National Assembly."

Bakassi was handed over to Cameroun by former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, allegedly out of respect for a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

(snip)

Senators also unanimously rejected a prayer by the movers of the motion calling for restraint in a possible confrontation with the Republic of Cameroon. It was therefore resolved that "Senate sympathises with the people of Bakassi and other parts of the country for the hardship caused them by the unfortunate cession of their ancestral homes to Cameroon and calls on the Federal Government to immediately take steps at ameliorating their suffering."

Ever Get So Mad at the Media You Could Hit Them With a Stick?

If so, you should go to Pakistan!

Today's News Directory Story of the Day comes from Karachi where journalists got uppity trying to do their jobs.

From Dawn:

Police on Tuesday baton-charged journalists protesting against media curbs and arrested over 100 demonstrators when they tried to march towards the Governor’s House from the Karachi Press Club.

Hundreds of policemen deployed outside the press club sealed all link roads and used batons to stop journalists from taking out a procession. About six media personnel were injured.

The police high-ups justified the action and said that cases would be registered against journalists who, according to them, had violated the law.

(snip)

Later in the night, police released all the journalists on the directives of the Sindh governor after registering an FIR against them for violating the law.

In Hyderabad, 19 journalists were arrested for holding a rally against curbs on the media. However, they were released after about three hours.

Auto Parts Salesman Turned Ambassador Pisses Off Romanians

How do you spell corruption?

For instance, if you use your position as head of an Auto Parts company to raise more than a half of a million dollars for the Bush campaign and then turn that into an appointment as US Ambassador to Romania, does that count as corruption?  Not here, but maybe in Romania.

From Nine O'Clock:

BUCHAREST - U.S Ambassador Nicholas Taubman said yesterday he was concerned about the recent moves of the Romanian parliament to weaken the ability of prosecutors and law enforcement officials to combat serious crimes, including bribery and corruption.

The Ambassador’s comments, made during the closing ceremony of the Romania Civil Society Strengthening Program, were not welcome at all by MPs, the main target of the diplomat’s criticism.

(snip)

Taubman said his view, shared by Romanian and international experts, is that if enacted in law, the amendments would represent a real setback in Romania’s efforts to fight many types of serious crime and corruption.

(snip)

Liberal Bogdan Olteanu, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, had a tough reply for the American Ambassador: Taubman paid to obtain his position in a manner that would be seen as corruption in Romania.

Olteanu told Taubman that “in Romania it is the Romanians doing the laws”. “I think it is time for Mister Taubman to center on representing the US interests in Romania.

News Directory Story of the Day: It's Not the Chainsaw that Makes the Canoe or is it?

From the Cook Islands News:

Kava and chainsaws help start 10 old-style canoes

13 November: Sawdust was flying in Avarua yesterday as carvers started shaping and moulding 10 logs into traditional canoes in this year's Mire Tarai Vaka.

While some eyebrows were raised when chainsaws were used to create the main shapes, master carver Mike Tavioni says it's not what you make the canoe with, but the mana and spirit that you put into making the canoe that count.

Before the mana could be put into the making of canoes, tapu had to be removed from the logs with a traditional kava ceremony held yesterday morning at the national auditorium.

News Directory Story of the Day: Nubians Sue Over Idi Amin Era Money

I'm a big fan of NewsDirectory.com which offers links to just about all of the English language newspapers in the world.  Everyday I will be posting a link from something I've stumbled across while surfing the directory.

Today, perhaps you saw "The Last King of Scotland" or remember the rule of Idi Amin Dada in Uganda.  When Amin left for Saudi Arabia, the banks froze his money and that of many Nubians.  Now the Nubians want their dough back.

From The East African:

UGANDA AND Kenya's central banks face a massive law suit as more than 1,300 members of the Nubian community move to recover millions of dollars in accounts that were frozen in the two countries, soon after the government of late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin fell in April 1979.

The accounts, which had between $35 million and $50 million at the time of the seizure, were frozen by the Bank of Uganda in an act lawyers argue was illegal and unconstitutional because it was discriminatory and not backed by any law at the time.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), acting on instructions from Uganda, froze an unknown number of accounts, mainly belonging to Ugandan businessmen who were thought to have been close to the Amin regime.

(snip)

Among those targeted were accounts of people who had fled Uganda in the wake of the war that overthrew the Amin regime, an action that mainly affected Muslims and Nubians in particular. Following successful legal challenges by some of the affected individuals against their bankers, the government of President Milton Obote sought to legalise the freezing orders retrospectively in legal notice No 2 of 1982 and No 3 of 1984, which spelt out criteria for freezing accounts.

(snip)

Former President Idi Amin who held account No. 1 in the Libyan Arab Uganda Bank and three other accounts in Uganda Commercial Bank, his son Taban Amin, who recently returned from two decades of exile in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and First Deputy Premier and Minister for Disaster Preparedness Moses Ali, appear on the list of account holders seeking restitution.